Baramulla, March 24: A fish farmer in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district suffered significant losses after miscreants’ reportedly sprayed fungicide and pesticides into the water, causing the death of thousands of fish in her trout fish farm.
Rubeena Akhter, wife of Tahir Ahmad Lone of Sultanpora Kandi in Baramulla, said that she had invested a significant amount of money and resources into setting up the fish farm with the aim of selling her first stock during the holy month of Ramadan.
However, the miscreants’ actions have brought her hard work and livelihood to a standstill.
Rubeena said that the incident came to light early in the morning when scores of dead fish were found floating in the water.
“I had set up the unit after a lot of hard work thinking that it would be beneficial for my family. Few tractors were seen filling water from the local by stream which can be a cause of the incident,” she added.
“I had never expected such an act of vandalism to occur.”
She also expressed concerns about the impact the incident could have on her business, noting that the fish farm had been an integral part of the family.
She said that a few members of the fisheries department came to check the cause of death of fishes.
A fisheries department official said that upon closer inspection traces of fungicide and pesticides were found.
“The preliminary investigations suggest that the incident is not a natural occurrence but due to spraying of pesticides in the water. Further investigation is going on in this matter,” he added.
The incident has raised concerns among other fish farmers in the area, who have called for increased security measures to protect their farms from similar incidents.
Meanwhile the police authorities have launched an investigation into the matter and assured the locals that they will take the matter seriously and will take all necessary steps to bring the culprits to justice.
